Infrastructure Review
Assessment of the current estate, its capacity and its true running cost.
Practice area
IT Consulting
Technology assessed against business outcomes, by an advisor with no interest in what you buy.
Independent review, with nothing to sell you
Most technology advice arrives attached to a product. The recommendation and the invoice for the recommended thing come from the same party, and the business is left unable to separate the analysis from the sale. That is a poor basis for a decision that will be lived with for a decade.
This practice carries no vendor relationships and resells nothing. Infrastructure, data architecture, security posture and governance are examined against what the business actually needs to do, and the finding is written up whether or not it recommends spending anything.
Service overview
Work begins with what the business must be able to do, then examines whether the current estate supports it, obstructs it, or quietly exposes it. Reviews cover infrastructure and its true running cost, how data is structured and who can reach it, security control and audit readiness, and whether a migration is warranted at all before its route is planned.
- No vendor relationships, nothing resold
- Findings tied to business outcomes
- Exposure identified before it is exploited
- Written for both technical and board readers
Services in this practice
Data Architecture
How data is structured, where it lives and who can reach it.
Cybersecurity and Audit
Control review and audit readiness against applicable standards.
Cloud Migration Strategy
Whether to migrate, in what order, and at what cost.
Systems Integration
Making existing systems work as one, before replacing any of them.
IT Governance
Decision rights, spend control and accountability for technology.
What you receive
- A written assessment covering the estate as found, with evidence for each finding.
- A risk register ranked by exposure and by cost to remediate, not by ease of remediation.
- A sequenced remediation plan with dependencies stated.
- A board-readable summary separable from the technical body.
How a mandate runs
Intake and scoping
A private conversation establishes the decision the document must support, who will read it, and what it must survive. Scope, fee and dates are fixed in writing before work begins.
Research
Primary sources first, secondary sources named. Every figure that enters the document carries a traceable origin, and assumptions are recorded separately from findings.
Authorship
The advisor who scoped the mandate writes it. Argument, structure and numbers are built together, so the narrative and the model cannot drift apart.
Partner review and signature
A second senior reviewer reads adversarially, against the standard the receiving institution applies. The document is released under signature.
Selective by design, not by accident
This practice is for
- Boards asked to approve technology spend they cannot independently assess.
- Businesses whose systems have grown by accretion rather than by design.
- Organisations facing an audit against a standard they have not been measured on before.
- Companies weighing a migration that a vendor has already recommended.
We decline
- Software development, implementation delivery or managed support.
- Procurement where the vendor has already been chosen and a signature is what is wanted.
- Reviews the operating teams have not been told are happening.
Standards and compliance
Scope fixed in writing
Scope, fee and delivery dates are agreed in writing before work begins, and do not move.
One senior advisor
A single named advisor carries the mandate from intake through final signature.
GST-compliant invoicing
Tax invoices issued against GSTIN, with input credit available where eligible.
DPDP-compliant handling
Client data is held, processed and returned under a documented retention policy.
Frequently commissioned alongside
General questions
01 Do you resell or implement software?
No. The practice holds no vendor relationships and takes no commission from any provider. The review is the deliverable, and its recommendation is as likely to be that no purchase is warranted.
02 Will you work alongside our existing IT team?
Yes, and by preference. The operating team knows where the estate departs from its documentation. Reviews conducted without their knowledge produce findings we will not stand behind.
03 What standards do you assess against?
The standard that applies to you, established at scoping: the one your regulator, your auditor or your customer will measure you against.
04 How is the finding presented?
In writing, in two layers: a technical body with the evidence, and a summary a board can read on its own. Both are delivered; neither replaces the other.
05 What does an engagement cost?
Engagements begin at USD $2,500, set by the size of the estate under review. The fee is fixed at scoping and invoiced GST-compliant. It does not move once agreed.